Nintendo investors are eager to know what Nintendo’s plans are for this year in terms of marketing and development, as rumors suggest that the company is prepping the Nintendo NX console for launch this year. President Tatsumi Kimishima recently spoke to investors to let them know of the companies’ plans, but he did so in a generalized manner, instead of revealing anything about the upcoming console.
According to Kimishima, Nintendo’s previous fiscal years have been a “period of preparation” for launching several new endeavors, chief of those he named include NX development and development for smart devices. Kimishima also mentioned driving Wii U and 3DS sales, while also expanding their character IP business from just games to other merchandising opportunities.
So what’s the biggest clue that the Nintendo NX is launching this year? This statement from Kimishima:
At the same time, it has been our priority to take a close look at areas of our existing business where the revenue and expenses had become unbalanced, and to make sure that we corrected this balance. As I have said before, we will be launching many of our new business activities as we move from this fiscal year into the next.
Kimishima seems to be warning investors that Nintendo is going to ramp up marketing for these new products, as he repeatedly mentions the cost of of launching a new product in the form of preparation and investment into marketing.
The question was to pick one area with which we will be able to achieve Nintendo-like profits, but I would like to suggest two areas. One area is our NX business, and another is our business for smart devices. I believe that keeping these two endeavors on track will be key to achieving Nintendo-like profits. I don’t have any further details to share about the next fiscal year at this time, but we will explain about our plan and when we will aim to achieve Nintendo-like profits at a future date.
We already know that Kimishima is aiming to quadruple Nintendo’s profit margin and it looks like he’s prepping his investors for a period of financial downturn while Nintendo works on the huge marketing effort it takes to launch a new console, in addition to focusing on mobile devices.
